Two locals honored with Governor's Awards

Eight Alaskans, including two Juneau residents, and one rural arts council were recently selected by Governor Parnell as the 2010 recipients of the Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities.

Juneau Douglas High School art educator Tom Manning was a recipient of an Arts Education award. Manning has taught art for 25 years in Juneau and has been a leader in the arts education community. Because of his passion for teaching and arts, students often are on waiting lists to get into his classes. In addition to teaching, Manning demonstrates to other teachers how to link the arts into their curriculum, displays student art in the community, and takes students to galleries and exhibits on the West Coast. One nominator said "Tom Manning is a 'more' person. He gives more to his students while expecting more of them."

A Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to local musician Paul Rosenthal. Rosenthal has been playing his violin in Alaska for over 40 years. But as Alaskans know, he is much more than a musician, having founded the Sitka Summer Music Festival, a world renowned chamber music festival that has helped Sitka become the music capital of Alaska. He also shares his music with the rest of Alaska, traveling to play in small cafeterias and gymnasiums, infecting communities with his passion for classical music. Rosenthal will be passing the baton of artistic director of the music festival to cellist Zuill Bailey soon, but the legacy of his work will continue to resonate.

The awards will be presented during a dinner event at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge on Thursday, Oct. 21. The awards are sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Office of the Governor.

For more information about the Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities, call the Alaska State Council on the Arts at 907-269-6610 or visit www.eed.state.ak.us/aksca.